BreakAway Free
by Namikaze Kaiyoko
Summary: Kai always deals with her problems. Caring for her little brother Tobi , Lack of family love, Gangs, High school, and a love life of her own. She deals. Summary sucks and I couldn't find the right catagory...read it anyway.
1. Chapter 1

AN/ I know, I know. With my concentration, I shouldn't be starting a new story... But I couldn't help it! One day, Kai just popped into my head and with her came all my new and lovely characters! And she refuses to leave. So Flower is going on hiatus while I work out the issues I've been haveing with the two computers I have. Which means that all this story has in terms of beta-ing is my grammer skillz and a spell checker. I can hear the groans already... COME ON! AT LEAST GIVE IT A SHOT!!

Oh, and I should also mention that the chapters are all rather short. I feel like I've written a lot, but looking at it now and typing it, wow...It's a LOT shorter than I thought...

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Chapter One

No one was deluded enough to think that there was any "love" in the household. If asked, all anyone could claim was that they were a bunch of kids who happened to live in the same household and have the same mother. No love, just a mutual respect and tolerance.

Kai was one of the "middle" children. At eleven years old, she had lived without much support, other than the few siblings who took it upon themselves to make sure that no one dropped out of elementary school at least. Even though her full name was Kaiyoko, no one except the oldest child, Moki (18), and her mother ever called her that. Not that the woman was much of a "mother". As far as she was concerned, she was only interested in you untill you were born. After that, your siblings cared for you untill you could care for yourself. After that, no one cared.

Her father had given her her name. It was the only influence he had in her life, and she intended to keep it that way. The less support or contact she received, the less problems she would be faced with. But after eleven years of no contact, the steady streak was broken. It turned out that she would be the only one in the house hold to receive a "true" sibling. She was going to have a little brother. Not that she didn't already have a younger sibling, there were seventeen kids in the household, not a single one was believed to have the same father as another though.

As was her mother's ritual, she gave birth, named the boy "Tobi" then was out partying and getting laid again within two days. Kai ended up taking care of her little brother.

Kai was on the shorter side, with blonde, rippling hair and sparkling blue eyes. Tobi's hair was darker, almost brown in color, with gray eyes. And Kai found herself to be a very doting sister. Swear words were common with the kids, but many quickly learned not to let one slip near Kai, since Kai meant Tobi, and Kai would lash out at anyone who dared to set a bad influence for Tobi. More than one boy had gotten beat because he had let his tongue slip near Tobi.

She also discovered she could actually cook, which was a skill not taken lightly in the household, seeing as there weren't many that could actually do it. There was always someone hungry, not that they were poor, their mother did make some people pay for her "services", and seeing as she only took the rich clients, the sum was pretty high, they always had food. But with ten boys in the house and of varying ages (Tobi had brought the figure up to eleven) someone somewhere always wanted something to eat.

As Tobi got older, Kai quickly learned how to take care of him. He was very picky about his food, he usually wouldn't eat unless Kai cooked it. He wasn't able to sleep unless she was there. He was also shy and would seclude himself, Kai being the only person he spoke to.

Tobi grew quickly, and before Kai could believe it, he was four years old, still clinging to her silently. And that's when everything began to change out of Kai's pictured life.

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So, who likes it? Give me a review to encourage more chapter wrighting! (ug, I curse my horrible spelling...)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Chapter Two! Already! and I'm sorry that it's so short! But if you like it, I'm happy! so don't forget to review! (yess, push the little blue button...PUSH IT!!)

Anyway...On with the story!

Chapter Two

"Tobi, come here!" Misiki called up the stairs. "Someone is here to see you!"

Tobi stole a quick glance at Kai, who looked up from the homework she had been doing on her bed at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Go down and see what she wants, Tobi. I'll be down shortly." Kai said. Tobi nodded and stood up. He walked over to the door and turned to look at Kai again. "Go on! If you make her wait too long she'll be angry with you."

"H-hai" Tobi stutter, nervously opening the door. He didn't like getting yelled at, and their mother seemed to scream at any of the kids who got in her way. He disappeared down the hallway, leaving the door open behind him. Kai organized her room quickly then left, closing the door behind her.

"Tobi I would like you to meet your father. He said he wanted to see you." Misiki said, introducing a tall man. He had Tobi's gray eyes and a suit to match.

"Tobi," He started, his voice deep, matching the tall, imposing figure he had. "I would like you to come and live with me. Would you like that, Tobi?"

"Can Nee-san come as well?" Tobi asked quietly, not meeting the man's eyes.

"Who?" He was obviously forgetting that he had another child in the house.

"Nee-san. She said she would be right down and..." Tobi glanced expectantly at the staircase. Kai decided that this was as good a time as any to make her appearance.

"Tobi," she said, coming down the steps. He ran up to her, expecting to be picked up, and the girl obliged, placing the thin boy on her hip.

"Konnitchiwa, sir," she inclined her head politely. "May I ask what concern you have with my younger brother?"

"Kaiyoko, you silly girl! Go back up to your room!" Misiki was mad. She hated being interrupted during one of her dealings.

"'Kaiyoko,' as in my daughter?" he asked only showing a mild interest. He observed the girl. "She is pretty, but I'm sorry, Tobi. I don't need a daughter."

"I won't go!" Tobi said, clinging to Kai possessively. Kai subconsciously tightened her grip to reassure the boy that they wouldn't be separated.

"Tobi," Misiki's voice sounded sweet, but it still held venom in it. "You will be happier without that mean girl around. Why don't you go live with your father? I promise that you'll be taken good care of."

"Not without Nee-san!" Tobi was stubborn. In Kai's four years of taking care of him, she learned you couldn't force him to do anything against his will. He would fight against it with all his scrawny might. Tobi had been known to sit in a corner and cry, refusing food and glaring at anyone who got too close to him. Kai knew what would happen if the boy was forced to leave her: He would starve to death.

"I'm sorry sir, but it is past his bed time and he is tired. I'm going to take him up to bed now, if you don't mind." She said. She was already planning.

"No, that's fine, Kaiyoko. Take care of your little brother. I'll be back at the end of the week," he said kindly. "By the way, My name is Taichue, Nogunda."

You likey, right? Well, weather you do or you don't (and honestly, why would you read the second chapter if you didn't like it, hmm?) leave me a nice review because they inspire me to type faster. Wrighting it is not the hard part, belive me...


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Wow...I seem to be on a roll! Go me! It seems easyer to type the chapters after I hand-wright them...Of course that then means I have to go back and decipher not only my horrible spelling, but also some of my not-so-neat handwrighting. Normaly I love my handwrighting, it's neat and clean. But when I get on a roll with a story, it becomes tiny, slopy and some of the worst handwrighting I have ever seen...And if you've ever seen some of my classmates handwrighting, that's saying something...

Chapter Three

"Nee-san, what are you doing?" Tobi asked as he watched his sister tear apart her normally clean room.

"Packing," Kai simply responded. She emptied her back pack and was putting a few changes of clothing in it, a lot of underwear, some small wrapped packages, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, washcloth, a towel, and a blanket as well. She then got out an old diaper bag and put some more clothes into it, followed by a pillow, two of his favorite stuffed dogs, another blanket, a flashlight, a box, more underwear, and some more towels. It was amazing how well she could pack things.

Then he saw Kai stop and look at him. He could see the worry in her eyes. "Tobi, I want you to try and get some sleep now. I'm going to wake you up in a couple of hours; when Moki goes to sleep. We're going to have to be real quiet, understand?" Tobi nodded and climbed into the bed. They were going somewhere, perhaps to a place where the mean lady and mean man couldn't separate them.

Kai watched as Tobi drifted off to sleep, then went downstairs. She wasn't an uncommon sight in the house's "night-life", she would often come down when Tobi had fallen asleep."

"Poor thing was stressed out?" one of the other girls, Siki, asked, seeing Kai.

"Yeah. I'm going to grab a few snacks then head up and finish my homework. " Kai responded. It wasn't that Siki was concerned about any of her half siblings, she just loved to gossip.

"Homework is over-rated. Anyway, Misiki is 'attending' to another customer. She said that she'd be gone for a couple of days." Siki said. She hated the fact that she was named after the woman who gave birth to her: She had already figured out Kai's plan and was subtly hinting that she would help, if only to spur that woman.

"Thanks, Ki-senpai. Can you sneak up anything later?" Kai asked grateful for the older girls help.

"Money and food. Anything else you want?"

"Don't tell Moki."

At this, Siki burst out laughing. "That moron? Does he even realize that he's in love with the woman who gave birth to not only him, but seventeen other kids with seventeen different men?"

"Don't think so." Kai responded. She still found it a little disturbing that her half-brother was infatuated with the woman who was his supposed mother. There were definitely issues.

Siki was as good as her word and soon delivered a couple of boxes of snack foods, along with a stack of hundred dollar bills, along with a few twenties.

"Don't worry, it's Misiki's. She'll never even notice it's gone, let alone miss it." Siki said, seeing Kai's worried look. "I also got you this." She continued, handing over a box. Kai opened it, revealing pictures of all the siblings, during some of the happier moments.

"Ki-sempai, where did you get all of these?" Kai asked, holding back tears.

"I figured you could use them more, just so you don't forget all us little people stuck here. I've been taking them for years, but I don't really need them." She replied. Kai threw her arms around the older girl.

"Thank you for your help. If nothing else can be found in this household, at least there is friendship." Kai said, a tear finally making it's way down her cheek. "Thank you."

It may have been an awful one, but it was still a home

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Wow, this one was accualy more than a page! Sorry that the chapters are sooo short, but I'm wrighting in a really tiny notebook, so I feel like I've written a lot more than I have...

Read And Review (with lots of love on top from cute little Tobi!)


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Trying something differnt with the seperation in the story, the pritty little stars weren't transfering. But I told some people that chapter four would be out at the end of the week end, and I ment it...ZZZZZZZZZ

Chapter Four

With Siki's help, both Kai and Tobi managed to get some sleep. She had woken Kai close to Moki's midnight rounds and when he check her room, she feigned sleep and then waited untill he had gone to sleep himself.

Kai had then woke Tobi up and together they snuck out. They walked to the nearest bus station and took the first one out of the region. She signed under a false name and paid the ticket price in cash.

"We're going to visit Grandma, and Mother said that this was the cheapest time." She explained at the guy whom she bought the tickets from's curious glances. He seemed to buy the story, as if he had seen kids doing this before.

They boarded the bus and took middle seats. Tobi soon fell asleep, and Kai, even though she tried to stay awake, she was soon sleeping as well.

XXX

Tobi had never been to a city before, and the dirt made every thing seem foreboding. Tobi clung to Kai's leg as he looked around at all the tall buildings. He had never been this far home before, but he was okay, because Kai was there.

But he was starting to tire. Kai stopped and picked him up, carrying him on her hip as she always did. Her smell calmed him even more and soon he was sleeping in her arms. They had walked almost the whole day, and would soon need to find a place to sleep.

"Hey! Lady!" called a gruff voice from behind Kai. She turned around to see a group of guys behind her. They all had the same symbol on their right arm. The man at the head of the group wasn't wearing a shirt, revealing a well muscled chest covered in tattoos. His piercings glinted in the sun and he gave a lewd grin. "Give us the boy, lady. Along with any money that you got on ya. If you're real nice to me, I might let you stay around."

Kai took a step back as the guy continued to leer at her. She bumped into someone as she considered running. Strong arms enclosed around her shoulders, shielding her.

"You hunters do realize that you're on shadow territory, right? You're off grounds." came a deep, obviously male voice. She looked over her shoulder to get a better view of her "savior". He looked a little older than she was, a little scuffed up. He was dressed entirely in black: a tight black leather shirt and baggy black jeans. His hair, whether bleached or natural, was one of the whitest blondes she had ever seen. It was short and spiked, the tips of it dyed an electrifying pink. He flicked his tongue out, revealing a small metal ball, a piercing. Kai dimly wondered what she had gotten into.

"Hi-zu-ki! Can I do it? Puh-lease?" A girl's voice came and the guy spoke again, in his deep rumbling voice.

"Bu, we can't afford to kill these guys, they're only branch lackeys."

"Aw! Zu-zu, you're no fun!" came the girl's voice again, and she poked her head around from behind the guy. She was wearing a black jean plated miniskirt with a matching red and black halter top. Her hair matched, it was long and black, with streaks of red. Her olive green eyes glinted deviously behind her bangs.

"Come on, guys, let's split. The kid ain't worth messin' with Shadow," the shirtless guy said, motioning for the others to follow as he turned and walked away.

There was a brief silence before the girl spoke up again.

"So, Hizuki. Who are our new friends?" she asked, observing them, apparently interested.

"Sabuki, cut it out, you're scaring her. Anyway, Hunters will be after them again, once those guys report to their higher-ups. I'd bet the kid is a 'bounty' or something. Those guys hinted at it when they left," Hizuki said. "Follow us, cutie pie. We'll take good care of you."

Enter Sabuki and Hizuki. I realized while typing this that Bu is alot like Sunako from "The Wallflower" (which is a great series I found durring my trip to the library, I was way overdo for some good books...) Uhhh, now I'm going to go eat some icecream, then I'm going to sleep, I'll update when I update... ... on second thought, forget the icecream...zzzzzzz


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** AHHHH! So late! At least I finished (around tweleve in the morning but who's counting?)

Chapter 5

"Good care" apparently meant space in Shadow's sanctuary: an old steeple church. The door had the Shadow crest was inscribed on the door: a black bird with it's wings spread wide, with a cross behind it, inside a thorny circle.

"We're an odd bunch. Everything from runaways to street orphans." Sabuki explained. "Most of us only have a middle school education."

She was leading Kai, who was still carrying Tobi, down a hall, and when she reached a door with the Shadow crest on it, she stopped and knocked.

"Come in," came a gruff, raspy voice. Sabuki pushed open the door and beckoned in Kai. Kai set her brother down and followed Sabuki in.

The air was heavy with cigarette smoke, causing the smoke coming threw the grimy windows to look hazy. Kai felt Tobi's grip around her leg tighten.

A man was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, a cigarette held between two long fingers. He had long brown hair, a bright smile and dark eyes. His hair was casually thrown into a ponytail at the base of his neck, pulling it off of his broad shoulders, but his bangs, which were not long enough to go into the ponytail, framed his face with a sort of elegance. He wore a tight black tank top, showing his rippling muscles.

"So, my sly, little Hachibi, you brought back new pets?" he asked, his jaded gaze landing on the two blondes.

_Hachibi, as in the giant snake of legend?_ Kai briefly wondered how the girl had earned such a powerful nickname.

"I did indeed, Shichibi-sama. " Sabuki replied, flashing a dangerous, reptilian like smile which seemed to explain the street-name. "I think I'll leave them in your care." She added as she left the two runaways in the room.

_Shichibi? As in the badger? Seriously, does everyone here have a funky nickname? _Kai could barely think with all the smoky haze.

"So, my new pets, what are your names?" He asked, a wide smile gracing his handsome visage.

"My name is Kai, and this is Tobi." Kai introduce, using polite and formal language, not wanting to get on his bad side. If this guy was a gang-leader, he could kill them in less than a heart beat.

"You wouldn't happen to be the Taichue child, would you, boy?" The grin told Kai that he already knew the answer to his question. "It doesn't really matter to me, but if Hunters are going to be after you, you're obviously worth some street money."

"He's not going back!" Kai replied, still polite but a firmness in her voice that left no room for arguments.

"Calm down, I already said that I didn't care." The man stood up, an impressive seven foot one. "My name is Urueaya Tachu. I'm also known on the streets as the Shichibi, as Bu was so kind to point out." He reached a large, long-fingered hand out (not the one that was holding the cigarette) and, as she shook it, he let his eyes observe her. They were runaways, probably rich suburbs, judging by the clothing. It was also pretty obvious that they were siblings, they had the same face structure and build, and even though Kai had a deeper tan, he could tell by their palms that their skin tones were the same as well.

"You can stay," Tachu said, noting how she seemed to relax at those words. " I don't remember the missing children report mentioning a missing daughter. I wasn't even aware that Taichue had a daughter." He said, slightly confused.

"That's because he never wanted one. Tobi and I are both results of our parent's 'flings' but Tobi is the only child he ever showed any interest in." Kai replied with a certain venom in her voice.

Tachu nodded, he understood the feeling well.

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Tachu's history will appear ... In a much much later chapter, I don't even know what it is yet.


	6. Chapter 6

It's midnight, I'm tired, I won a 100 dollar schollership for playing sports and I'm pretty sure "Shollership" is spelled wrong but i could care less at this point...

Chapter 6

Most of the people at the sanctuary weren't too bothered about Kai and Tobi joining them. New people came almost everyday. "Bu"(Tobi had started calling her that, despite what Kai had said. He claimed "Bu" sounded cooler.) settled them next to her and Hizuki. The black and red haired girl had taken a likening to Tobi, and appointed herself an "honorary big sis," much to Kai distaste and Tobi's pleasure.

Hizuki, who's nickname was Rokubi, or the weasel, watched the girls fight over who's bed Tobi could use. Sabuki glomped the poor boy, and he allowed her, which had surprised Kai. He normally didn't like strangers. He nursed his red cheek: as soon as he found out that Kai was staying he instantly asked her to marry him (Kai had later found out that this was his traditional way of greeting a new girl to sanctuary). He was even more ecstatic when he learned that Kai could cook and told her that she was indeed his ideal wife. This comment earned him another beating.

Tobi wached the two teens arguing and briefly wondered if that was love while Sabuki commented that Hizuki would "never learn."

XXX

Most kids who stayed at the sanctuary weren't members of Shadow. It was only those who were sixteen or older who were members. This was because Shadow would provide space untill the person was sixteen and considered able to care for themselves. The gang members were given more time to move out because it was harder for them to find a place; the few places that would allow the gang members space were normally filled already. Sabuki turned out to be the youngest gang member, she was only thirteen. Tachu, at twenty five, was the oldest. Most people involved in gangs didn't have a very high life expectancy, most were killed in street fights or ended up in jail for life, but Tachu was fighting the odds. He would retire his position of Gang Leader at the ripe old age of thirty one, or so he said. Hizuki was sixteen and the newest member of Shadow. Sabuki was the only person there he didn't currently refer to as "sempai" or "sama", it was because he joined the gang to protect Bu, although she didn't seem to need protection, only controlling.

When she had first met them, she thought they were a couple, but she soon found out that she was wrong. The two shared a very different relationship: they were closer to being siblings than anything else, with all the teasing and joking they did. Slowly, Kai and Tobi were adopted into the strange little family.

Hizuki and Sabuki were slowly saving money so that they could rent an apartment. It was a small place under Shadow command and a lot of gang members lived there. Tobi received tutoring along with the other children staying at the sanctuary. Kai was one of the teachers, she had a partial high school education which was more than what most of the rest had.

And so a year and a half passed in this way. Hizuki and Sabuki finally saved up enough money for their apartment and still had enough saved up for almost a years' rent. Kai helped them to pack up while Tobi sat on Sabuki's bed, sniveling at the thought of loosing his "Bu-nee."

"Oh, but you and Kai are coming to live with us. We want you and your Nee-san to come! I'd be lonely without you there to play with and we'd starve to death with out Kai's cooking!" Bu said, flashing her smile. It was strange how at times it could seem completely innocent and at others completely sadistic.

As was the coustom at the sanctuary, each resedent gave a small present to those leaving, as a small way to help them start in their new home. Everything from food to small trinkets, even some artwork done by the local artists. A small quilt was made from scrap fabric. They were moving at a good time too: Tobi's birthday was in a week and they would be able to celebrate the new house along with Tobi's birthday. While birthdays were nothing special back at the house, they were always celebrated at sanctuary, and everyone joined in, weather they really knew you or not.

Well that was fun... R&R!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The apartment was small: three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a conjoined living room/kitchen/dining room. It was already furnished with a bed in each of the bedrooms, a sofa, a dining table with a few chares. And to Kai, it was perfect. It was home.

Tobi's birthday was still three days away, and Kai was determined to find a job. Sabuki and Hizuki didn't mind if she didn't work, in fact Sabuki would be perfectly happy if Kai stayed at home and cooked. But Kai wanted to support them somewhat. She had been paid for her tutoring at Sanctuary, but now that she didn't live there, she was no longer receiving a paycheck for her services there. She wanted to be able to help with the bills, buy food and books (for Kai and Tobi always had a book of some sort in their hands.), or something that would make her feel like she was doing more than just sitting around wasting money. And she could start her own savings, for you never knew when having some money stashed away would come in handy.

Kai eventually found the perfect job: a small cafe down the block had hired her. While it wasn't shadow owned, it had a lot of older kids from Sanctuary working there. And because she lived with two gang members, she and Tobi were considered gang relatives and were placed under gang protection. This kept members of the Hunters from messing with her.

After her initial meeting with the Hunters, she had learned a lot about them. They targeted runaways, especially those who had monetary rewards or "bounties", turning them in to the police when caught. The ones who roamed the streets normally weren't very high up and were simply looking for kids who could be caught till a bounty could be given. They didn't earn much and took what they could get. Higher ups drove fancy cars and would often collect higher bounty kids or make their own by kidnapping some kid from some outer city rich home, then turning them in later. But lower members tended to avoid conflict with Shadow.

Shadow took much better care of it's new members, giving them to an older gang member, untill the "newbie" was considered trained. Then they were free to hook up with a partner, who would help in holding shifts and meant that every one had a "buddy" of some sort to watch their back.

Hizuki and Sabuki were still on gang payroll. They still got a portion of the money that the businesses in the aria gave in exchange for protection. This meant that the buildings became a regular hang out for members.

Rules were strict: the building could only be marked with Shadow's symbol, nothing else, and employees could not be targeted for muggings.

All in all, Hizuki and Sabuki thought they had pretty good jobs. All they had to do was stand around at a building during their time slot. As Bu would put it, "We get paid to be lazy, not good gang fighters."

They all arranged their schedules so that Tobi was never home by himself. Kai even looked into a school for Tobi to attend. A local one didn't charge too much for pre-school and Tobi could easily pass as a four year old with his small frame. All she had to do was think up a good last name.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Sorry I didn't have a chance to look over the last chapter to make sure that there were no mistakes in in when it transfered. My computer was disaggreeing with me... ...

Chapter 8

"Remember, your last name is?" Kai asked, drilling Tobi as she walked him to his fist day of pre-school.

"Hutashi." Tobi was concerned. He had been with other kids his age, but Kai, Bu, or Hizuki had always been around.

"Hutashi" was a common last name around the aria. Kai had picked it out in hopes of blending in better. She hoped she would have no problem hiding him now.

"Bu-nee will pick you up after school today, okay?" Kai said.

"Why not you?" Tobi asked. He knew she didn't have to work today.

"I'm going to be out with Hizuki." Kai responded simply. In the two and a half years of living together, Hizuki had completely fallen for Kai, and had ("finally" according to Sabuki) asked her out. Although most of their dates were normally to the groceries or something to that affect.

Tobi and Kai walked trough the school gates and Tobi grabbed her hand and held on tightly. There were a lot of kids playing, waiting for the morning bell to ring and signal the start of school. A ball rolled up to them, stopping at Tobi's feet.

"HEY! Can you throw that ball here, please?" A sandy haired boy with brown eyes asked, as he ran up to the siblings. He stopped short and stared at Kai. "Wow, what a pretty mommy," He stated.

Tobi's face flushed and Kai burst out laughing.

"Sorry, I'm his older sister." She said, face alight with laughter.

"Oh! I'm sorry miss! What's your name?" he asked, looking at Tobi. "Mine's Yoshi."

"M-my n-name is Tobi. And my N-nee-san's name i-is Kai." Tobi answered, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

The bell rang and the children started lining up.

"See you later, Tobi!" Yoshi yelled as he went to join his class's line.

"Well Tobi, seems you've made a new friend already!" Kai said as they waited for the children to go to their classrooms. Kai then walked down the hallway to the principle's office so she could get Tobi some help towards his class.

Tobi clung to Kai's hand as they walked down the hall to the principle's office.


End file.
